Effective topographic and climate factors on aboveground net primary production in Hir and Neur rangelands of Ardabil province

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and environmental factors (such as elevation above sea level, slope, aspect, compound topographic index, seasonal and annual precipitation, seasonal and annual temperature) which was carried out in the rangelands of Hir and Neur in Ardebil province. Initially, considering the vegetation types and different classes of environmental factors, at the maximum vegetative growth stage, using one square meter plot with clipping and weighing (harvesting) method ANPP was estimated. Using digital elevation model (DEM) map, the maps of slope, aspect, elevation classes and topographic index were extracted. In addition, using gradient equations (calculated from the study areas stations) the seasonal and annual precipitation and temperature maps were extracted. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the factors between different sites. Then, to determine the most important environmental factors affecting on the ANPP changes, the principal component analysis (PCA) was used. Also, the ANPP map prepared using regression equation in GIS. The results showed that the variables are significantly different in sampling sites (P<0.01). The results of PCA indicated that the components of one (include annual precipitation, annual temperature, elevation) and two (include slope) with 76.10% had the most effect on ANPP. Also, ANPP map prepared using the extracted regression equation and the accuracy of the map was 0.71, which indicates the validity of the model.